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Human Intelligence, Learned Behavior, and Social Evolution:
Human continuance is based on mankind?s evolution, which has obviously been a result of successful cosmic
and biological evolution resulting in successful adaptations, reproduction, and the ability to disperse humans around and
off the Earth. To insure survival, human reproduction is essential so successful characteristics will pass to future generations.
To bring this about, mankind?s reproductive drives are internal and powerful, because they significantly insure survival of
the species.
Consequently, it might seem to follow that if there is meaning for human life, as with life in general,
it might be found in successful adaptation, dispersion, and reproduction. In the human situation reproduction is sexual. Albeit
not always thoughtful, many aspects of human life are motivated by sexual reproductive drives. In fact, from Descent of Man
Charles Darwin wrote, ?Man scans with scrupulous care the character and pedigree of his horses, cattle, and dogs before he
matches them; but when he comes to his own marriage he rarely, or never, takes any such care. He is impelled by nearly the
same motives as the lower animals, when they are left to their own free choice, though he is in so far superior to them that
he highly values mental charms and virtues.?
It seems that human sexual drives are optimally designed so that reproduction will primarily be successful
and plentiful, as is the case with most animals. Moreover, it is indisputable that human sexual drives significantly motivate
mankind?s behavior by increasing the human population beyond rational numbers. The increased human population then motivates
increased environmental adaptation and dispersion. Only recently have some technological cultures socially evolved to control
their reproductive proclivity so that a greater share of resources can be given to their people and significant social/economic
prosperity achieved. However, world human overpopulation has already occurred and most societies are at risk.
The totality of the evolutionary process involved in creating all life, humankind, and thoughtful scientific
advancement is more than just biological evolution. It is the combination of cosmic, biological, and social evolution and
the combination seems to propel all matter, life, and even ideas. Thus, the original energy of the universe relentlessly directs
humankind, along with everything else, through time, and space using the mechanism of universal evolution.
Cosmic evolution, which gave rise to matter and the subsequent biological and social evolution of mankind,
has inherently created or directed within people the basis of human behaviors. Humankind?s ability to thoughtfully adapt,
disperse, and recently, in some cultures, even thoughtfully reproduce has helped people better fit into changing environmental
situations and survive. Consequently, intelligence is an obvious successful evolutionary adaptation and survival strategy
for humans. Without intelligent planning and the social ability to team together and form a society of various capabilities,
which as a unit competes with natural forces, mankind would be no better than an isolated genius or a colony of bees. Neither
has been able to develop space flight, either because of isolation or due to a lack of intelligence.
Natural selection has determined that Homo sapiens adapt to their environment in many ways, but significantly,
intellectual adaptation has allowed humans to prosper over competing animals. Somewhere within the last two million years
there has been a gearing upward to cooperative hunting, tool making, and gathering, with accompanying requirements for a high
level of intelligence, language, and social organization. This attended the rise of the modern human species (5). People were
then found walking upright to better use their hands and weapons; they had opposable thumbs so tools could be fashioned and
fire?s lit; they organize in teams to hunt, gather food, or raise their young; and they explored the unknown with their ?mind?s
eye? so they could invent something to give them an edge. Most other animals have specialized anatomies designed to do many
things better than humans. However, with the exception of upright posture and an opposable thumb, the abilities that give
mankind the edge reside in the human brain. Homo sapiens brains have evolved to be more powerful than the other animals allowing
people to imagine, think, calculate, and communicate with spoken and written languages and numbers. Thus, humankind is the
most socially cooperative; the best tool maker, and has by far the greatest inventive capabilities of Earth?s evolved animals.
Therefore, with thoughtful adaptation, dispersion, sometimes-wise reproduction, and the ability to team
together mankind exists with relative success. However, partly due to human sexual drives, that are not always thoughtful,
people have overpopulated the Earth, fought countless terrible conflicts, and placed great stress on the resources necessary
for their own survival causing mankind?s struggle for existence to be exacerbated. Human reproduction in many ways seems to
conjure up visions of endless swarms of intelligent rabbits that fight between themselves for survival after dominating the
other animals. And in that combative process develop, through random chance acting alongside natural selection, a machine
making intellect enabling them, quite by coincidence, to protect the Earth or leave for another world if a cosmic catastrophe
strikes.
Darwin?s comments on overpopulation were prophetic even in 1871, ?Man, like every other animal, has no doubt
advanced to his present high condition through a struggle for existence consequent on his rapid multiplication; and if he
is to advance still higher, it is to be feared that he must remain subject to a severe struggle.? Darwin confirmed this again
by writing, ?Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence; consequently he is occasionally subjected
to a severe struggle for existence, and natural selection will have effected whatever lies within its scope.?
In a hostile environment, composed of increasing numbers of competitive human identities, mankind has survived
best by using intelligent specialty teams working as a creative unit. Historically most people have been forced to struggle
militarily, economically, personally and in countless other ways to survive. Eventually, in the struggle for resources and
dominance, societies evolved advanced specialty teams. Among the more important are: educational, medical, religious, scientific,
artistic, mechanical, military, economic, musical, agricultural, governmental, and industrial specialty teams. In the twentieth
century, the more creative specialty teams generally helped advance a greater understanding of the world and the universe.
Governmental organizations today are beginning to have the ability to protect the planet, and disperse its? life when threatened
by cosmic catastrophe. In no small part this is a direct result of the scientific advances brought about by socially evolved
creative specialty teams created and employed by governments during two World Wars and the Cold War (6).
In 1871, although man?s intelligence had not yet propelled him into space, Darwin concluded on the final
page of Descent of Man, ?...with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar
system?with all these exalted powers?Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.? It seems
evident that the stamp of mankind?s lowly origin is also seen in the repeated acts of inhumanity, in the struggle for existence,
shared with other animals.
In the twenty-first century, although mankind seems to have invented interplanetary flight and nuclear explosives,
the lowly origin of the species, reflected in the human appearance and evolutionary/social history, might in some ways prevent
greater accomplishments. Darwin?s prophetic conclusion could result in humankind not being as important as it projects itself
to be, or maybe humans will succeed in their unique biological niche and Man?s, ?...god?like?? intellect will overcome ?...
his lowly origin.?
References Cited:
1. "Environment," Microsoft? Encarta? 97 Encyclopedia. ?1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
2. "Shoemaker-Levy Comet," Microsoft? Encarta? 97 Encyclopedia. ?1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
3. "Mars (planet)," Microsoft? Encarta? 97 Encyclopedia. ?1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
4. "Dinosaur," Microsoft? Encarta? 97 Encyclopedia. ?1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
5. "Evolution," Microsoft? Encarta? 97 Encyclopedia. ?1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
6. "World War II," Microsoft? Encarta? 97 Encyclopedia. ?1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
Home Page Image Credits:
1) Asteroid/Comet streaks to Earth - Image Credit: SpaceDaily.com http://www.spacer.com/
2) Earth African Hemisphere - View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon.
This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the
first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the
Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern
edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is the Malagasy Republic. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward
the northeast. - Caption and Image Credit: Search For Photos http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop Earth from Space Collection Photo
ID: AS17-148-22727 http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/images/pao/AS17/10075945.jpg
3) Asteroid/Comet striking Earth - Mass extinctions and the demise of the Earth?s dinosaurs are tied to
cosmic collisions. - Image Credit: SpaceDaily.com http://www.spacer.com/
4) Asteroid/Comet ocean crash - Asteroids and comets can be extremely deadly when they strike a planet?s
ocean, carving aquatic craters and sending huge tsunami waves in all directions. These tsunamis can wreak destruction on shores
thousands of miles away. They are bad news for people living near the coast, but it could be good luck for the rest of mankind:
A similar impact on land would throw dust high into the atmosphere which could block sunlight for many months, possibly causing
global starvation and mass extinctions. - Image Credit: SpaceDaily.com http://www.spacer.com/
5) Mars rotating- Image Credit: Life on Mars www.ezyboard.com
6) Mars red rocks and sand - The Martian surface is littered with rocks, some as large as houses. Scientists
are particularly interested in finding certain types of rocks that were formed in the presence of water. Where there was water,
life might have developed, so these areas of the planet would be particularly good places to understand the possibilities
for past surface life on the planet. - Image Credit: Mars Exploration Homepage http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/
How to invite Talako as a guest speaker:
Talako can present to your organization, community, school or any involved group the COSMIC CATASTROPHE
SURVIVAL STRATEGY, in complete detail as it was created for NASA, so you can play a part in saving humanity. To get the presentation
that was designed and created for the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Annual 2001, Meeting in Washington D.C. CONTACT Talako
choctaw@jps.net
IMPACT PROBABILITY & PLANETARY DEFENSE
From: Talako
To: Cambridge Conference Network
Dear Dr. Peiser:
In the CCNet articles of 16 November 2001 I was particularly intrigued by (13) CHAOS AND STABILITY OF THE
SOLAR SYSTEM and (7) GRAVITATIONAL EFFECTS OF EARTH IN OPTIMIZING DELTA V FOR DEFLECTING EARTH-CROSSING ASTEROIDS. Both reinforce
my ideas in the COSMIC CATASTROPHE SURVIVAL STRATEGY published by CCNet January 22, 2001 where I started, "Consequently, since
it has not been determined how many asteroids are in the Apollo Belt and because comet paths are not exact it seems just a
matter of time and a mathematically chaotic chance before the Earth will be impacted by an asteroid/comet capable of catastrophic
devastation."
In the past few years many discoveries of previous possible and probable comet/asteroid Earth impacts have
come to light. Just one possible impact occurred in Iraq around 2350 B.C. and that may have caused a newly found 2-mile-wide
crater. Interestingly at that time one or more events wiped out several advanced societies in Asia and Africa. Partly because
of discoveries like that in Iraq the ability to predict the probability of cosmic Earth impacts seem to be even less accurate
than ever, because impact numbers are constantly changing upward, and thus are actually unknown. Ongoing impact discoveries
reinforce my reasonable doubt that probabilities and predictions of cosmic catastrophes have very much validity, other than
collisions will occur. Article (13) also reinforces my belief that randomness in space is greater than just a deficiency of
our knowledge, but instead more like an understatement. The emerging idea that the orbits of small members of the solar system-asteroids,
comets, and interplanetary dust-are chaotic and undergo large changes through geologic time indicate that those mathematically
chaotic orbits are not yet predictable. Furthermore, article (7) provides one reason causing the orbits of asteroids to be
chaotic when the article specifically states, "Generally speaking, the increments in the minimum DeltaV due to the gravitational
effects of the Earth are large (by as much as 60%) for near-Earth asteroids, and the errors diminish for orbits with large
eccentricities (e > 0.7)." Also as reported from Space.com, 19 October 2001 - ASTEROID DISCOVERIES MAY OUTPACE ABILITY TO
ASSESS THREAT TO EARTH, thus the continuing discovery of ever more Earth threatening asteroids compound the difficulty of
predicting collisions with the Earth using probabilities. Finally since Earth threatening comets can emerge from the Oort
cloud at any time it is even more evident that predicting the probability of a comet collision with the Earth has very little
reliability, other than a collision will occur.
Unfortunately predicting the next cosmic collision with the Earth using probabilities based on faulty data
is like predicting nothing at all. Therefore, we should expect our world to face a comet or asteroid impact at any time. Believing
that we are only impacted every 100,000 or 100,000,000 years gives people and governments a false since of security, especially
since Siberia was impacted less that 100 years ago.
Therefore, if it is true our planet continually faces the threat of random cosmic collisions that could
range from terrible to catastrophic this would be the best argument favoring a planetary defense. Considering the limited
impact data available, and the chaotic condition of the orbits of Earth crossing objects, I see little reason to delay the
development of a comet/asteroid defense system. It would save our planet from far greater distraction than has been documented
by all historic wars or worldly natural catastrophes.
The evidence indicates that scientists believing otherwise are just hiding their heads in the sand, and
doing a disservice to the human race by extrapolating nonsense without adequate data. Moreover, I would appreciate comments
from those believing in collision predictability based on probability schemes and invite them to document, beyond a reasonable
doubt, the logic of their conclusions with reference to the evidence in this letter.
Sincerely,
Talako
Choctaw Society of Astrobiologists
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Some U.S. prisoner of war during the 1942 Bataan Death March struggle to continue. According to this author's interpretations
of the writings of Darwin, ? . . . partly due to human sexual drives, that are not always thoughtful, people have overpopulated
the Earth, fought countless terrible conflicts, and placed great stress on the resources necessary for their own survival
causing humankind?s own struggle for existence to be exacerbated." - Image Credit: Image Credit: The History Place http://www.historyplace.com/index.html
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The mass murder of women and children by Nazi troops in the Ukrain during World War Two is an example of the human struggle
for existance and unfortunately mankinds inhumanity and frightfully crual animal nature. Image Credit: The History Place http://www.historyplace.com/index.html
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Standing amid row upon row of crosses in an American cemetery, two sailors pay silent homage to a fallen comrade in 1945.
People have overpopulated the Earth, fought countless terrible conflicts, and placed great stress on the resources necessary
for their survival. Image Credit: The History Place http://www.historyplace.com/index.html
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Eventually, in the struggle for resources and dominance, societies evolve advanced specialty teams. Among the more important
are educational teams and Cambridge University is one of those teams. Cambridge University?s King's College Chapel took over
a century to build and was completed in 1547, although the history of its construction is the subject of continuing research.
You can view a gallery of images of the Chapel, view the list of services, which take place daily during term or visit the
Chapel Shop. - Image Credit: Tom Williamson University of Cambridge http://www.cam.ac.uk/
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Specialty teams of scientists at their headquarters in Peenem?nde developed the Second World War�s German V-2 Ballistic missile.
Nazi General Walter Dornberger and German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun were two men with a vision. The drive, energy
and resourcefulness of General Dornberger, mated with the ingenuity and passion of von Braun, created one of the greatest
technological achievements of this century. The other great technological achievement was the allied development of the Atom
bomb. The fact that the V-2 rocket was the product of the ruthless slave labor regime of Nazi Germany and the fact that many
thousands of innocent people died as a result of its development, production, and deployment, taint the image of what otherwise
would be considered a monumental triumph. However, the Atomic bomb also was used as a destructive weapon and along with the
V-2 rocket they both reinforce the concept that in the human competition for resources mankind is his own ferocious enemy
struggling to accomplish more than his rival.- Image Credit: V2ROCKET.COM - The A4/V2 Resource Site. The V2 Rocket. The A4/V2
Resource Site. The V2 Rocket. http://www.v2rocket.com/
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On July 16, 1969 the successful Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Mission was launched. The 363-ft. tall space vehicle was rocketed
from Kennedy Space Center at 9:37 a.m. The mid left view from the launch tower is of the smoke and flames from the five engines
of the Saturn V rocket which generate 7.5 million pounds of thrust. The mid right view is of the launch tower as it is cleared.
Twelve minutes later, the astronauts were in orbit 120 miles above the Earth at 17,400 mph, then begin their four day journey
to the Moon, nearly a quarter of a million miles away. In 1865 Jules Verne predicted the invention of a space capsule that
could carry people. In his science fiction story "From the Earth to the Moon", he outlined his vision of a cannon in Florida
so powerful that it could shoot a "Projectile-Vehicle" carrying three adventurers to the Moon. Over 100 years later, the U.S.
NASA team, guided by the former W.W.II German scientist Wernher Von Braun, produced the Saturn V rocket. From a spaceport
in Florida, this rocket turned Verne's fiction into fact, eventually launching 9 Apollo Lunar missions and allowing 12 astronauts
to walk on the Moon. Humans have not walked on the lunar surface since the last moon shot, Apollo 17. ? Image, caption, and
links Credit: Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Last Moon Shot http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000617.html
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The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, New York were destroyed on September 11, 2001 when terrorists
flew a hijacked plane into each of them. Over 4000 innocent people, from various countries around the world, were killed in
this ignoble act sponsored by mankind?s current delinquent named Osama bin Laden. As Charles Darwin wrote, ?...Man still bears
in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.? One might add history has repeatedly shown that human behavior
also contains the indelible stamp of mankind?s lowly origin, which includes Genghis Khan, George Armstrong Custer, Hitler,
and now Osama bin Laden. - Image Credit: World Trade Center Twin Towers New York City destroyed by... http://personalweb.about.com/library/weekly/aa091101a.htm
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31 October 2001 ESA PR 63-2001 ESA astronaut Claudie Haigner? and her two Russian colleagues were welcomed back to Earth today
after successfully delivering a new 'lifeboat' to the International Space Station. The Androm?de crew safely descended to
Earth in a Soyuz capsule, ending a 10 day Russian-French mission on a dewy autumn morning in Baikonur, Kazakhstan at 05:59
CET.- Image Credit: European Space Agency http://www.esrin.esa.it/ ----- Maybe humans will succeed in their unique biological
niche and Man?s, ?...god?like?? intellect will overcome ?... his lowly origin.?
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choctaw@jps.net
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